Furness

Furness Abbey

Furness, region, administrative county of Cumbria, historic county of Lancashire, England. Except for a narrow coastal plain, Furness is predominantly upland, with such eminences as the Old Man of Coniston and Wetherlam. Principal rivers are the Duddon, Leven (draining Windermere), and Crake (draining Coniston Water), flowing south into Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea coast. Between the Duddon estuary and Morecambe Bay is a peninsula, off which lies the Isle of Walney, 8 miles (13 km) long and 1 mile wide. Much of Furness is in the Lake District, and Roudsea Wood is a nature reserve.

Furness became important in the Middle Ages because of its abbey, the ruins of which are north of the principal town, Barrow-in-Furness. The abbey was founded in 1127 by Benedictine monks from Savigny, France, who later joined the Cistercian order. They were granted the lordship of Furness by Stephen (ruled 1135–54), and the abbey became one of the richest in England. At Conishead was an Augustinian foundation, and at Cartmel is the fine parish church of a former abbey (1188). Ulverston became a market town for the region.

Industry was based on the iron ore of the limestones in the southwest, worked from early times and exploited by the monks of Furness. Production reached a peak in the 1880s and has since declined. Opening of the Furness Railway (1846) initiated industrial development, and Barrow grew as an ore-exporting port and a shipbuilding and iron and steel centre. Decline of these industries in the 20th century resulted in heavy unemployment, and attempts to attract new manufacturing have been handicapped by the region’s inaccessibility. Farming remains an important activity, with emphasis on fat lambs and store cattle, while tourism has become increasingly significant. A coastal railway connects Barrow and the region with Carlisle to the north and the rest of historic Lancashire to the south.